Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded Friday to Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida’s endorsement of former President Donald Trump during an interview with Fox News.
The GOP senator and previous Florida governor decided not to endorse his successor, and instead threw his support behind Trump on Thursday.
DeSantis was asked directly about the endorsement and reports that Republican state lawmakers in Florida would also soon flock to Trump, and told Fox News’ Sandra Smith that there’s still time to shore up support for his campaign before voting starts.
Read: Florida Gov. DeSantis Pledges To Support Trump, Even If He’s Convicted, But Adds ‘We’re Gonna Win’
“I must have missed where those voters have actually voted yet. Isn’t it odd that we haven’t had one contest, and there’s people that are having a rush to try to sort of short circuit the people’s voice. So the people haven’t been able to speak,” said DeSantis. “And I can tell you, obviously, the former president has support, but there’s a lot of people that haven’t made up their mind. There’s people that are leaning to him now who are not, have not made a final decision. And so you’re going to start to see, as we get in the next couple of months and into the new year, you’re going to start to see people make some decisions about, okay, what’s the pathway for the Republican party going forward?”
“And with me, they get somebody who will fight for them, which is important, but will also win, win the election but win the fights, and then lead this country to a comeback,” DeSantis added.
DeSantis also touted his campaign stops in the key early state of Iowa, where he visited its 85th county out of 99 on Friday, and stressed the importance of “[showing] up, you ask for the vote, you tell them what you’re going to do.”
When announcing his endorsement, Scott acknowledged that he “know[s] most of the candidates running for president,” and commended them for running.
Read: Florida Gov. DeSantis Releases First Campaign TV Ad In Iowa “Biden Fails, DeSantis Leads”
“They’ve made their case to voters, laid out their agendas and their plans, and told their stories. Make no mistake: every single one of them would be a better president than Joe Biden. But Republican voters are making their voices heard loud and clear. They want to return to the leadership of Donald Trump,” said Scott.
DeSantis previously received the backing from 99 of the state’s GOP lawmakers, but NBC News reported Wednesday that after Trump allies organized an effort in the state, as many as six elected officials are expected to flip their endorsements to the former president as early as next week.
The switch would come after Saturday’s Florida Freedom Summit, a GOP convention where all 2024 hopefuls will speak, and amid the third Republican primary debate in Miami, which Trump is skipping to hold a rally in the state.
Fox News’ John Roberts then pressed DeSantis on recent polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina that suggest support for the governor is lagging in the key early states.
“Well, you’ve looked at the Iowa caucus polls the last few times, whoever was winning right now in those polls did not actually win the Iowa caucus, and so, this thing is very dynamic, it’s just getting underway where people are starting to pay attention,” DeSantis responded.
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